Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Ithaca College volleyball team (6-12) fell in four, 3-1 (22-25, 25-12, 25-16, 25-19) to St. Mary's College of Maryland (9-2), before suffering a five-set heartbreak, 3-2 (25-13, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-13), to the host Warriors (12-6) Friday night at the Lycoming Tip-Off Classic in Lamade Gymnasium.

Against the Seahawks, freshman Shaelynn Schmidt and junior Rylie Bean led Ithaca's offense with 11 kills each. Rookie Breanne Tuohy matched a season-best with eight kills on 16 swings. Freshman Molly Brown dished out 21 assists and sophomore Carly Garone chipped in 12. Junior Abbie Hutchinson served up a career-high tying four aces. Sophomore Dylan Gawinski Stern dug out 17 times and Bean and Brown did so 11 times each.

Brown served Ithaca to a 3-0 lead in the first as they powered ahead 6-2. Five unanswered points for the Seahawks forced an Ithaca timeout. The Bombers went on to piece together a 7-2 run and secure the advantage indefinitely. St. Mary's crept within 23-22, but Schmidt and Tuohy put down kills on Brown sets to end the game. The Seahawks ran away with the second, 25-12, owning the lead the entire set. In the third, St. Mary's took a 16-11 gap following a 7-3 streak. The Bombers were within 18-15, but the Seahawks closed out the set with seven of the last eight for a 2-1 advantage. The Bombers battled in the fourth. Action was tied on six occasions. St. Mary's rewrote a 13-13 stalemate with a 9-2 run to end the match in four.

In the night's second contest, Ithaca was again led by Schmidt with a season- and match-high 20 kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Brown posted 26 assists and Garone 14. Freshman Grace Chang recorded 12 digs and Brown added 10. At the net, Hutchinson powered to a career-best seven blocks (1 solo, 6 assists). The Bombers had 20 (2 solo, 18 assists) on the night.

Lycoming got off to a hot start, blanking the Bombers, 25-13 in the first. The Bombers peaked to even the series with a 25-23 edge in the next set. A 7-2 lead led to a 16-9 Ithaca gap. The Warriors surged to pull within 19-17, but Ithaca outlasted the host squad maintaining the two-point lead. 

The third set opened in Ithaca's favor taking a 7-3 lead, but the Warriors answered to knot action at 7 – the first of six ties during the game. The Bombers pulled away from an 11-11 deadlock to lead by three on five occasions, but Lyco held off Ithaca with 10 of the final 14 points to own the series, 2-1.

Ithaca took a 5-2 edge in the fourth before the Warriors battled for a 10-7 lead that grew to 15-10. The Bombers answered with a 6-1 stretch for a 16-all decision on a Myan Idziur ace. Ithaca countered Lyco's three straight with five unanswered and went on to force a fifth with a 25-22 victory.

The final set went point-for-point. It was at a standstill 11 times. Neither team held more than a two-point lead throughout. The Warriors took the match on back-to-back kills to secure their eighth win out of their last nine contests. 

The Bombers will face the Penn College of Technology and Misericordia Saturday at 12 and 2 p.m.